Netflix is releasing Series 8 on the 7th. I can finally be caught up with the phenomenon! Now to finish the last four of Series 7! Slow going, but I'm getting there. Coleman really is delightful. I cannot say that enough.

Netflix is releasing Series 8 on the 7th. I can finally be caught up with the phenomenon! Now to finish the last four of Series 7! Slow going, but I'm getting there. Coleman really is delightful. I cannot say that enough.

Just wait. Coleman gets better.

When I went back home earlier this year a friend of mine was going through DOCTOR WHO, and we decided to hang out while she watched The Name of the Doctor. Ended up watching Name, Day, Time, and Deep Breath in one straight run.

Deep Breath has really grown on me as I've rewatched it. I understand the criticisms about it but I think its good points far outweigh its bad, and it's one of the more interesting stories about how it must feel for a companion when 'their' Doctor regenerates (more so than The Christmas Invasion, at least for me).

I just think it's too long. Its direction is so laid back and relaxed that it doesn't develop a head of steam until the restaurant scene. It's the one extended episode that I really wish was closer to a standard 45 minutes.

I wish I could watch this faster, but I am getting there. I will definitely be ready for the 9th series when it premieres though. Finished series 7 last night. Great sendoff. It's pretty much a big fuck you to Tenant's last episode. I didn't love the overt cheesiness of the episode, but it wasn't a huge deal. It felt "epic" in all of the wrong ways. The doctor's exit and that set-up was handled well, I just could not get into the pacing or mood set throughout the episode. I will miss the hell out of Matt Smith's doctor, but I'm eager to see what Capaldi has in store.

I'll be interested to know how long (if at all!) it takes you to warm to Twelve. It took me longer than with the other (nu-Who) Doctors but that's because he was so different in every way, but I love him to pieces now. Of course, you'll likely be watching him at a faster rate than I did so that process may be accelerated. Or it may never happen!

I could barely make it through the first half of S8 Episode 1. What should have been an exhilarating experience (always love the intro/outros to new Doctors) was in this case excruciating.

Until the Doctor and Clara sit down at the restaurant. Then suddenly it's like the episode actually started, and got creepy, scary, exciting, and fun. And the Baddies were terrifying, absurd and pathetic at the same time. (especially the Villain's "escape pod").

Really like the ending with Clara getting one last call from You Know Who telling her to suck it up.

Yeah, one of the reasons that "The Eleventh Hour" works so well is the urgency facing a Doctor who is "still cooking", trying to work out what kind of man he is right now, and devoid of his usual ways of solving a problem. Moffat seems to go in the opposite direction with "Deep Breath" for the first half of the episode and it's not entirely successful. I've come to enjoy the slow build-up but I don't dispute claims that the episode doesn't really get going until that restaurant scene where it becomes obvious how much fun Twelve and Clara are together.

Things kicked up several Quantum notches with "Into the Dalek". That felt like a perfect blend of Olde and Nu Who. I do like Capelli's combo of Hartnel and Pertwee's Doctor: a guy who tries to do the right thing but is won't hesitate to be a Bastard (leaving Clara with the VictorianBots, giving the solider a piece of gum then telling the others "ah he was dead anyway" in Dalek.

I do like Capelli's combo of Hartnel and Pertwee's Doctor: a guy who tries to do the right thing but is won't hesitate to be a Bastard (leaving Clara with the VictorianBots, giving the solider a piece of gum then telling the others "ah he was dead anyway" in Dalek.

Pertwee's Doctor was never that much of an asshole. He could be rude and insulting to authority figures (the worst examples of this in the opening scenes of The Ambassadors of Death and The Mind of Evil) but would never be flippant about the killing of an innocent or turn tail and abandon his companion to an imminent threat.

Early on, Hartnell's Doctor only cared about himself and would've been happy to bash in a caveman's skull if Chesterton hadn't stopped him. So I can see the comparisons there. But Pertwee -- no, absolutely not.

Nice to see that they're finally giving him a good send-off. My first introduction to Doctor Who* was the regeneration of Six into Seven, and having him die by bumping his head in the TARDIS may have been due to outside circumstances but it was still a lousy way for the Sixth Doctor to go out.

* This may not necessarily be true as I recall devouring the novelisations of Four's adventures from my local library but can't pinpoint if this was before or after I started watching the show on television.

Pertwee's Doctor was never that much of an asshole. He could be rude and insulting to authority figures (the worst examples of this in the opening scenes of The Ambassadors of Death and The Mind of Evil) but would never be flippant about the killing of an innocent or turn tail and abandon his companion to an imminent threat.

Early on, Hartnell's Doctor only cared about himself and would've been happy to bash in a caveman's skull if Chesterton hadn't stopped him. So I can see the comparisons there. But Pertwee -- no, absolutely not.

Well yeah that's why I said Capelli combines the two. And Pertwee's Doc was pretty consistently contemptuous of U.N.I.T (which resulted in some nice tension when he was trapped on Earth working for them) and the Brigadier and the concept of militarism. It's a running theme throughout his run.

And Pertwee's Doc was pretty consistently contemptuous of U.N.I.T (which resulted in some nice tension when he was trapped on Earth working for them) and the Brigadier and the concept of militarism. It's a running theme throughout his run.

I agree, but his contempt or disgust was usually warranted e.g., his reactions when the Brigadier ordered the Silurians to be destroyed. Capaldi's Doctor is an asshole simply because he's an asshole -- I don't know where his anger is coming from and it's off-putting, to the detriment of the stories IMO.

Nice to see that they're finally giving him a good send-off. My first introduction to Doctor Who* was the regeneration of Six into Seven, and having him die by bumping his head in the TARDIS may have been due to outside circumstances but it was still a lousy way for the Sixth Doctor to go out.

I listened to The Last Adventure a few weeks ago, and the fourth and final story, The Brink of Death by Nicholas Briggs, is indeed a proper send-off for ol' Sixie. Not going to give too much away, but the Sixth Doctor finds himself trapped in the Matrix data banks by his nemesis (and possible future self) the Valeyard, again played by the excellent Michael Jayston (Trial of a Time Lord). The plotting is surprisingly easy to follow considering all of the pitfalls fitting this story in with existing continuity. Colin Baker is superb, and his Doctor's final moments appropriately heartfelt, though I could have done without him naming his companions -- a fan-pandering move too reminiscent of Night of the Doctor.

Can't say I'm too crazy about the four-story structure of the entire Last Adventure, as the first three stories in the boxset (by Matt Fitton, Alan Barnes and Simon Barnard) are not very inspired -- even Colin sounds bored -- and mostly superfluous to Briggs's story, which is what everyone wants to hear anyway. I would have preferred it if Big Finish had fleshed out The Brink of Death a bit more and made it a standalone release.

A more satisfying recent listen is 2012's award-winning Dark Eyes, Briggs's epic four-part followup to the Eighth Doctor Adventures and a good jumping-on point for new listeners. Featuring companion Molly O'Sullivan, an Irish VAD assistant from WWI, and an unusually bitter, grief-stricken Eight (McGann, excellent as always) searching for hope, this is top-notch Who entertainment with intricate plotting, vivid action scenes, and plenty of solid character moments. And major props to Briggs for making the Daleks fun again!

I have to restrain myself from banging my head violently against a wall every time I'm reminded of how the BBC destroyed vast amounts of their broadcasts.

Listened to the first chapter of Dark Eyes this morning and enjoyed it greatly. McGann has a really good voice for audio plays and the whole thing seems very nicely written. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

Listened to the first chapter of Dark Eyes this morning and enjoyed it greatly. McGann has a really good voice for audio plays and the whole thing seems very nicely written. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

Great, glad you like it!

I'm itching to move onto Dark Eyes 2, but at the moment it's pricey over at the Big Finish site so I'll wait for one of the many Eighth Doctor sales.

I almost wish they didn't have the Daleks on the front cover, in order to increase the surprise. The build-up to their appearance at the end of the first chapter is really good (and the sound effects for the glowing gas is particularly eerie).

I love all of the audio effects, but the one that cracks me up is the sound of the TARDIS exterior door opening. It's used in most of the Big Finish releases but (I don't think) ever appeared in the classic or new version of the show. They obviously needed something to indicate when the characters are leaving the TARDIS ... but it's always the exact same sound. It's charmingly repetitive after awhile.

The Eighth Doctor version of the theme song is great, too. For those who haven't heard the audios, here it is:

Yeah, it's a wonderfully creepy rendition of the main theme. I like it.

As someone who is more familiar with the work of Big Finish than myself, would you agree with the following? I'll probably grab a few more after Dark Eyes.

There are some good choices in that video, but the problem is that many of them are tied into continuity. So, for example, Zagreus (#5) will make zero sense if you haven't heard the preceding story, Neverland. I would also avoid To the Death (#3) as a starting point because it's a series closer for the Eighth Doctor Adventures, and the stories in that run are structured like Nu-Who with series-long arcs.

Spare Parts (#8) and Jubilee (#7) are absolutely first-rate and are pretty cheap to download at the Big Finish site. After hearing Jubilee, you'll be a huge fan of the Sixth Doctor if you aren't already. That's the story very loosely remade as "Dalek" for the TV program by the same writer, Rob Shearman.

I would also recommend:

8th Doctor: Storm Warning, The Stones of Venice and The Chimes of Midnight. Storm Warning is merely OK but you need it for the intro to Eight's companion Charley Pollard. Chimes is one of my favorite Who stories in any medium, just incredibly good.

6th Doctor: The aforementioned Jubilee, along with Davros, The One Doctor, The Marian Conspiracy, The Reaping, and Trial of the Valeyard.

5th Doctor: Again, Spare Parts, and also Omega.

7th Doctor: The Fires of Vulcan and Master (#9 on the list you linked to).

I've never heard A Well-Mannered War (#6). (I haven't heard any of the Fourth Doctor Adventures, actually. I should get on that.)

No discussion of Sixie on Big Finish is complete without a mention of The Holy Terror.

It does things you can only do with audio, like sell the concept of a companion who is actually a 6-foot tall penguin with a Brooklyn accent. It's funny, it's scary, it's exciting, and it's absolutely worth the $5.

I think I have about 3 episodes left of Capaldi's first series. I like him quite a bit. I can't tell if the writers haven't figured him out yet, or if they are writing him all over the place on purpose, but it's difficult to keep up with sometimes. The stories feel too small right now, but nothing overly trite. The stories feel unfocused which makes me even more excited for the next series. I assume they will have ironed out some kinks.

I really like how this doctor doesn't deal with the bullshit. It helps him stay focused on the matter at hand. However, my problem with that is that makes it feel like this is the doctor's job, rather than his desire - at least that's how I've perceived it in the past. The philosophy has morphed from, "I can't stop because I don't want to" into "I won't stop because I can't". It might sound the same, but I think there is a difference, and in this show, that difference is huge. Clara called him out on that in the last episode I watched. I think the writer's know this. As long as this is wholly intentional, I am very excited to see how this shapes things to come.

Three left? That means you're probably about to watch In The Forest Of The Night. Boy, do I feel sorry for you. That one is awful. On the plus side, you have the pretty good two-part finale and the excellent Christmas Special to watch for the first time!

I just got done with Mummy on the Orient Express and I have started an episode about people being sucked into their walls. I'm not sure the Christmas Special is on Netflix yet unless I have one more to watch than I realized. I believe I saw a mention of Daleks in the last episode of series 8 if that helps...

Ah, you're on Flatline which I liked quite a bit. It'll be a shame if you're unable to see Last Christmas (the Christmas special) as it kind of wraps up season eight by resolving some questions left by the finale - and is a wonderful episode in its own right (in my opinion).

Ok, I got my queue to load. The last episode is Death in Heaven. I am a super completist, so I am glad you pointed that out. I will have to track down the special. Hopefully BBC is airing it in the next week before series 9 premieres or I might have to use less-than-desirable means to watch it.

I would love to if I could. If someone can point me in the direction where I can see every previous episode, I'd do it. I'd rather be a bit ignorant than to only have access to a select few. I was under the impression Netflix only had a few episodes of each of the previous Doctors.

If only you could see every previous episode. If only the BBC hadn't wiped vast amounts of their archives due to their habit of re-using tapes, meaning there are entireDoctor Who stories from the classic show which are forever lost. If only.